Teksten

The Inkman (English)

Fragment

………….’What may be mentioned as typical of Klein Hofmeijer is his wish to become well-up in the materials that he works with. This is part of his production process. Once he has arrived for work at an unknown place his first action is to scout out the surrounding area. He will then familiarize himself with the material. It could even be the earth under his feet that is processed in his paintings. The artist’s choice of this material is deliberate. By using earth for material in his paintings he is actually converting his experience of the surroundings. In a similar way he converts the vulnerability of thoughts in matter by using candle-grease for a frame. In his earlier work his sheets and the paper that he stumbled on while cleaning up the attic of his parents, his shoes, coffee pads, wine, or felt cloths (filters) from his tumble dryer, were used for material. With that the common aspects of his life also found a place in his art. Completely in accordance with the tradition of Joseph Beuys and his teaching: “Life is art. Everybody is an artist”.

To think of Hans Klein Hofmeijer’s methods and procedures at work as just a form of physical activity must be at odds with his versatility. A creation without consideration. A series of photographs of the working environments that spawned his works are telling enough. These show the circumstances in which the process took place. To be seen is among other things an austere room with light-grey bare walls. But the room seems to change. First there are barren walls. Coming through the windows are beams of light. Shadows and light. Warmth spreads through the room, over the grey surfaces being filled with more and more drawings and sketches by the day. Quietness. Working. A glass of wine after dinner. The following day get up again, concentrate, draw, paint, contemplate. Be an artist.

Artists often want to lead a secluded life in order to be able to think and work with concentration. They have a need to submit to the idea that there does not have to be an actual work at the end of a working process. The spaces between ‘nothing and something’ are parts of the process of how a work of art comes into being. Klein Hofmeijer calls these “the areas in between”: the areas between actual work and thinking, between the body of thoughts and the reality of the picture.

Hans Klein Hofmeijer keeps as much to himself as he can. He refers to this when he says: “What matters to me is not the isolation in itself, rather the concentration and the preciseness that can manifest itself in this atmosphere. In a hurried world it is a great experience to be allowed uncontemporary attention for the benefit of beauty and detail”.

The rest is up to the spectator. He’s got work to do as well.’………….

Tekst door: Marijana Drozdek

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